Iraq opens investigation into kidnapping of Israel citizen Tsurkov - government

Outraged Iraqi protesters storm the US Embassy in Baghdad, protesting Washington’s attacks on armed battalions belong to Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi forces on December 31, 2019 [Murtadha Sudani/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images]

The Iraqi government has opened an investigation into the kidnapping of Israeli citizen, Elizabeth Tsurkov, in Baghdad in March, a government spokesperson told Reuters on Friday.

Tsurkov went missing after going to Iraq for research purposes on behalf of Princeton University, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday.

The office said that she is being held there by Shia militia, Kataib Hezbollah, a group backed by Iran.

“Elizabeth Tsurkov is still alive and we see Iraq as responsible for her fate and well being,” the statement said, adding that the situation is being handled by the relevant bodies in Israel.

The Iraqi spokesperson said the government was waiting for the results of the investigation and had no further comment. A spokesperson for Kataib Hezbollah could not be reached.

READ: Israel: official says academic kidnapped in Iraq ‘absolutely not a member of Mossad’

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.